Eyelet



(No Model.)

I. P. HAWKINS.

EYE-LET.

Patented June 15,1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orricn.

FRANK F. IIAVVKIN S, OF LANSINGBURG, NEXV YORK.

EYELET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 584,354, dated June 15,1897.

Application filed January 21, 1896. Renewed February 3, 1897. Serial No.621,878. (No model.)

ments; and it consists of the novel construction and combination ofparts hereinafter described and subsequently claimed.

Reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, and the letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure l of the drawings is a view in central longitudinal section of myimproved eyelet. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the eyelet inserted andsecured in a lacing-aperture in a piece of leather. Fig. 3 is a similarView of the molded hard-rubber head before the annular groove has beenformed in its under face. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the head inclosedin a die under compression.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several figures.

My invention is intended to be applied to that class of eyelets whereina non-metallic annular head is combined with a tubular metallicclenching-shank.

The object of my invention is to strengthen the non-metallic head of theeyelet and at the same time to add to the ornamental appearance, bothexteriorly and interiorly, of the finished article to which the eyeletsare applied.

The eyelet comprises the annular non-metallic head A and the tubularmetallic clenching part B, inserted through the central opening in theannular head and adapted to form a clenching-shank for the eyelet. Asshown, an exterior flange B on the upper end of the tubular metallicpart engages an interior flange A on the non-metallic head to secure theparts together. The tubular metallic clenching part may be of anydesired form and be secured to the non-metallic head in any knownmanner. The head may be made of any suitable non-metallic material,preferably of hard rubber vulcanized in a mold to the general formdesired. After the rubber head has been molded and vulcanized, as

shown in Fig. 3, I submit it to the action of a die 0 under greatpressure. The upper member of the die conforms to the shape imparted tothe upper surface of the head in the mold, while the lower member isprovided with an annular rib or flange 0, adapted to engage the undersurface of the head and form therein a concavity or annular groove A bycompression while the head is confined by the die-walls. By thusconcaving the under side of the head by compression while retaining themolded form of the upper side I decrease the volume of the head, therebymaking it more dense and increasing its strength. An eyelet having ahead thus formed is better adapted to Withstand the strain of theclenching operation incidental to its application to a shoe or otherarticle. It also affords a neater appearance when clenched or set" uponthe article to which it is attached, due to the fact that in theclenchin g operation the tool employed forces the clenched end of themetallic shank tightly against the supporting material, which materialis driven upward against the seating-surface of the eyelet-head and intothe groove formed therein. The upward movement of such portions of thesupporting material as enter said groove permits the clenched end of theeyelet .to be forced inside of the normal plane of the inner surface ofthe shoe or other article, instead of forming a conspicuous projectiontherefrom, as does the common eyelet in use.

By extending the concavity in the seatingsurface to the periphery of thehead I am able to form thereon a sharp edge G which vided with asheet-metal washer bent to a semicircular form in cross-section, so thaton itsouter edge the entire thickness of the metal was presented to thesupporting-body of fabric when the eyelet was set thereon, and I make noclaim to the same. Such a construction is wholly impracticable in aneyelet-head made of rubber and of the diminutive size applicable toshoes, &c., for

which my improved eyelet is adapted. If the inner and outer surfaces ofthe rubber head were parallel, a construction sufficiently strong toresist the clenching operation could not be secured without greatlyincreasing the size of the head.

It is characteristic of my invention that the cross-sectional form ofthe rubber ring or annular head is convexo-concave-that is, that the topsurface is more sharply curved than the bottom surface, whereby a sharpouter edge is formed thereon by the intersec tion of the top and bottomsurfaces of the head. Such an edge is well adapted to be embedded in theleather by the clenching operation, and is strengthened and supported bythe considerable thickness of material which extends almost to suchedge, so that the head will not be broken along its sharp edge by theclenching operation.

To force the fabric or leather into abottom face groove of the formshown herein does not require any sharp bending or sudden change insurface, as would a construction wherein the under surface of the headis so abruptly curved as to present the entire thickness of material tothe fabric or leather, as in the prior construction above referred to.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-' Aclenching-eyelet having an annular nonmetallic head-die formed bycompression to a convexo concave form in cross-section whereby such headis provided with a bottom face-groove extending to a sharp peripheraledge, which edge is formed by the intersection of the upper convex andunder concave surfaces of the head, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day ofJanuary, 1896.

GEO. A. 1\[OSHER,L FRANK C. CURTIS.

